So Abram went, as Yahweh had told him. Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
Parallel Translations
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So Abram went, as Yahweh had told him. Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
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So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
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So Abram went, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him; and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
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Contradictions (3)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (3)
Passages linked to Genesis 12:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Hebrews 11:8 By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he went.
- Genesis 11:31 Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife. They went from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan. They came to Haran and lived there.
- Genesis 11:27 Now this is the history of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran became the father of Lot.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 4. So Abram departed. They who suppose that God…
4. So Abram departed. They who suppose that God was now speaking to Abram in Charran, lay hold of these words in support of their error. But the cavil is easily refuted; for after Moses has mentioned the cause of their departure, namely, that Abram had been constrained by the command of God to leave his native soil, he now returns to the thread of the history. Why Abram for a time should have remained in Charran, we do not know, except that God laid his hand upon him, to prevent him from immediately obtaining a sight of the land, which, although yet unknown, he had nevertheless preferred to his own country. He is now said to have departed from Charran, that he might complete the journey he had begun; which also the next verse confirms, where it is said, that he took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew with him. As under the conduct and auspices of his father Terah, they had departed from Chaldea; so now when Abram is become the head of the family, he pursues and completes what his father had begun. Still it is possible, that the Lord again exhorted him to proceed, the death of his father having intervened, and that he confirmed his former call by a second oracle. It is however certain, that in this place the obedience of faith is commended, and not as one act simply, but as a constant and perpetual course of life. For I do not doubt, but Moses intended to say, that Abram remained in Charran, not because he repented, as if he was inclined to swerve from the straight course of his vocation, but as having the command of God always fixed in his mind. And therefore I would rather refer the clause, “As the Lord had spoken to him” to the first oracle; so that Moses should say, ‘he stood firmly in his purpose, and his desire to obey God was not broken by the death of his father.’ Moreover, we have here in one word, a rule prescribed to us, for the regulation of our whole life, which is to attempt nothing but by Divine authority. For, however men may dispute concerning virtues and duties, no work is worthy of praise, or deserves to be reckoned among virtues, except what is pleasing to God. And he himself testifies, that he makes greater account of obedience than of sacrifice, (1 Samuel 15:22.) Wherefore, our life will then be rightly constituted, when we depend upon the word of God, and undertake nothing except at his command. And it is to be observed, that the question is not here concerning some one particular work, but concerning the general principle of living piously and uprightly. For the subject treated of, is the vocation of Abram which is a common pattern of the life of all the faithful. We are not indeed all indiscriminately commanded to desert our country; this point, I grant, is special in the case of Abram; but generally, it is God’s will that all should be in subjection to his word, and should seek the law, for the regulation of their life, at his mouth, lest they should be carried away by their own will, or by the maxims of men. Therefore by the example of Abram, entire self-renunciation is enjoined, that we may live and die to God alone.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 12:4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had…
Gen 12:4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram [was] seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
Ver. 4. So Abram departed.] He had now enough, having such precious promises, though he previously had nothing else. He parted with his friends and kindred, but is now become the friend of God, and akin to Christ. Let their money perish with them, who esteem all the gold in the world worth one day’s society with Jesus Christ, and his Holy Spirit, said that noble Marquess Galeacius Caracciolus, {a} who being nephew to Pope Paul V., and a prince of great wealth and power, left all for Christ, living and dying a poor exile at Geneva, that he might enjoy the liberty of his conscience, and serve God according to the truth of the gospel. Remarkable is that which Calvin writes of him in his dedicatory epistle to him, set before his Commentary upon the First Epistle to the Corinthians, - Etsi neque tu ,& c.
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And Lot went with him.] Herein Abram was more happy than Caracciolus; for he, being converted by Peter Martyr’s Lecture on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, and resolving thereupon to leave all and go to Geneva, opened his mind to some of his most familiar friends, and wrought upon them so far, as they promised and vowed to accompany him, &c.; but when they came to the borders of Italy, and considered what they forsook, they first looked back with Lot’s wife, and then, without any entreaty, went back as Orphah: so going out of God’s blessing into the world’s warm sun, as they say, which yet they long enjoyed not; for they were after taken by the Spanish Inquisition, and forced to abjure Christian religion, being neither trusted nor loved of one side nor other. {b}
And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed.] So he continued a pilgrim for a hundred years together, {Gen 25:7} having ten sore trials, and every one worse than other.
{a} His life is set forth by Mr. Crashaw.
{b} Life of Caracciolus, by Crashaw, p. 11.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Abram departed, first from Ur, and after his father’s…
Abram departed, first from Ur, and after his father’s death, from Haran.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Here is, I. Abraham's removal out of his country,…
Here is, I. Abraham's removal out of his country, out of Ur first and afterwards out of Haran, in compliance with the call of God: So Abram departed; he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but did as he was bidden, not conferring with flesh and blood, Gal 1:15, Gal 1:16. His obedience was speedy and without delay, submissive and without dispute; for he went out, not knowing whither he went (Heb 11:8), but knowing whom he followed and under whose direction he went. Thus God called him to his foot, Isa 41:2.
II. His age when he removed: he was seventy-five years old, an age when he should rather have had rest and settlement; but, if God will have him to begin the world again now in his old age, he will submit. Here is an instance of an old convert.
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III. The company and cargo that he took with him.
1. He took his wife, and his nephew Lot, with him; not by force and against their wills, but by persuasion. Sarai, his wife, would be sure to go with him; God had joined them together, and nothing should put them asunder. If Abram leave all, to follow God, Sarai will leave all, to follow Abram, though neither of them knew whither. And it was a mercy to Abram to have such a companion in his travels, a help meet for him. Note, It is very comfortable when husband and wife agree to go together in the way to heaven. Lot also, his kinsman, was influenced by Abram's good example, who was perhaps his guardian after the death of his father, and he was willing to go along with him too. Note, Those that go to Canaan need not go alone, for, though few find the strait gate, blessed be God, some do; and it is our wisdom to go with those with whom God is (Zac 8:23), wherever they go.
2. They took all their effects with them - all their substance and movable goods, that they had gathered. For, (1.) With themselves they would give up their all, to be at God's disposal, would keep back no part of the price, but venture all in one bottom, knowing it was a good bottom. (2.) They would furnish themselves with that which was requisite, both for the service of God and the supply of their family, in the country whither they were going. To have thrown away his substance, because God had promised to bless him, would have been to tempt God, not to trust him. (3.) They would not be under any temptation to return; therefore they leave not a hoof behind, lest that should make them mindful of the country from which they came out.
3. They took with them the souls that they had gotten, that is, (1.) The servants they had bought, which were part of their substance, but are called souls, to remind masters that their poor servants have souls, precious souls, which they ought to take care of and provide food convenient for. (2.) The proselytes they had made, and persuaded to attend the worship of the true God, and to go with them to Canaan: the souls which (as one of the rabbin expresses it) they had gathered under the wings of the divine Majesty. Note, Those who serve and follow God themselves should do all they can to bring others to serve and follow him too. These souls they are said to have gained. We must reckon ourselves true gainers if we can but win souls to Christ.
IV. Here is their happy arrival at their journey's end: They went forth to go into the land of Canaan; so they did before (Gen 11:31), and then took up short, but now they held on their way, and, by the good hand of their God upon them, to the land of Canaan they came, where by a fresh revelation they were told that this was the land God promised to show them. They were not discouraged by the difficulties they met with in their way, nor diverted by the delights they met with, but pressed forward. Note, 1. Those that set out for heaven must persevere to the end, still reaching forth to those things that are before. 2. That which we undertake in obedience to God's command, and a humble attendance upon his providence, will certainly succeed, and end with comfort at last.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto…
So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him,.... Or, "when the Lord had spoken to him", as Cocceius renders the words; when he had called him a second time, even when in Haran, immediately after the death of his father Terah; as soon as ever the words were spoken to him before recorded, he immediately prepared and got all things ready for his journey, and departed from Haran, as he had done before from Ur of the Chaldees:
and Lot went with him; of his own accord, and he only, besides his wife Sarai and his servants, for Terah was dead, and Nahor and his family stayed behind.
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And Abram was seventy five years old when he departed out of Haran; by which it appears, as has been observed, that he was not Terah's eldest son, born when he was seventy years of age, Gen 11:26 for then he must have been at this time, one hundred and thirty five years old, since his father, who was just now dead, lived to be two hundred and five years old, Gen 11:32 so that Abram must be born in the one hundred and thirtieth year of Terah: how many years before this time he was converted from idolatry cannot be said with any certainty; various are the accounts given by the Jewish writers; some say that at three years of age he knew his Creator; others at eight; others thirteen; others more probably when forty; others fifty one; others fifty two; and others say he was sixty years old when he began publicly to assert the unity of God in heaven (z): however, all agree it was before the age here mentioned, as it may well be concluded.
(z) Vid. Pirke Eliezer, c. 26. Maimon. Hilchot obede cocabim, c. 1. sect. 3. & Comment. in ib. Juchasin, fol. 9. 2. Shalshelet, fol. 2. 2.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain So Abram departed - He was not disobedient to…
So Abram departed - He was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. His obedience was speedy and without delay, submissive and without dispute.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. And Abram was seventy and five years…
Verse 4. And Abram was seventy and five years old] As Abram was now seventy-five years old, and his father Terah had just died, at the age of two hundred and five, consequently Terah must have been one hundred and thirty when Abram was born; and the seventieth year of his age mentioned Ge 11:26, was the period at which Haran, not Abram, was born. See on the preceding chapter.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Gen 12:4. So Abram departed — He was not…
Gen 12:4. So Abram departed — He was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. His obedience was speedy and without delay, submissive and without dispute. So should ours be to him who says, “Deny thyself, take up thy cross, and follow me.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain ABRAM IN CANAAN, Gen_12:4-9.
ABRAM IN CANAAN, Gen_12:4-9.
4. Departed — Abram obeys, and goes forth from Haran, westward, over the river, as it was ever called by the Hebrews, the great Euphrates, afterwards the boundary of the kingdom of David and Solomon, separating Aram from Padan-Aram, the fertile Mesopotamian plain from the Syrian desert, and henceforth he was Abram, the Hebrew, the man who had crossed the border from beyond the great river, (ο περατης, LXX of Gen_14:13,) the emigrant, the pilgrim, (peregrinus, perager,) a typical name of spiritual depth and beauty. See note on Gen_10:24. He crossed the high chalk cliffs which wall the plain on the west, and forded the broad strong stream with wife and nephew and dependants, his flocks and his asses and camels, and entered the Syrian desert, a pilgrim, henceforth a type of all who set out on the heavenly pilgrimage. The manners and habits of the East are to day so nearly what they were in Abram’s day that we can easily picture the scene.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (4) Abram . . . departed out of Haran.—The…
(4) Abram . . . departed out of Haran.—The command given him in Ur may have been repeated in Haran; but more probably Abram had remained there only on account of Terah. At his death (see note on Gen_11:26) he resumed his migration northward.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain So (literally, and) Abram departed from Ur of the…
So (literally, and) Abram departed from Ur of the Chaldees, or from Haran (vide supra)as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him. Lot"s name being repeated here because of his connection with the ensuing narrative. And Abram was seventy and five years old literally, a son of five years and seventy years (cf. Gen_7:6) when he departed literally, in his going forth upon the second stage of his journeyfrom Haran.
Ver. 4.
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The Chaldaean emigrant.
I THE CALL OF GOD. Whether spoken in a dream or distinctly articulated by a human form, the voice which summoned Abram to emigrate from Ur was recognized by the patriarch to be Divine; and so is the gospel invitation, which through the medium of a written word has been conveyed to men, essentially a message from the-lips of God. The call which Abram received was
1. Distinguishing and selecting coming to him alone of all the members of Terah"s family, of all the descendants of the line of Shem, of all the citizens of Ur, of all the inhabitants of earth; and the gospel invitation which men now receive, in its widest no less than in its narrowest acceptation, is differentiating and elective, passing by one nation and falling on another, addressing itself to one individual and allowing another to remain uncheered by its joyful sound. (Rom_9:16)
2. Separating and dividing summoning the patriarch to disentangle himself from the idolatries of his native land, and even sever his connection with the nearest and the dearest, rather than imperil his salvation by remaining in Chaldaea; and in a like spirit does the voice of Jesus in the gospel direct men to forsake the world (spiritually regarded the land of their nativity), to relinquish its infidelities, iniquities, frivolities; to renounce its possessions, occupations, amusements; yea, to dissolve its friendships and endearing relationships, if they would now be numbered among his disciples, and eventually enter into life. (Luk_14:26)
3. Commanding and directing enjoining on the patriarch a long and arduous pilgrimage, that must necessarily be attended with many difficulties and dangers, and perhaps with not a few sorrows and privations that would require the most heroic fortitude and the most enduring patience, and that could only be accomplished by minutely following the Divine instructions, and taking each successive step in faith; and of a like character is the journey to which the follower of Christ is invited in the gospel a journey as painful and laborious in its nature, as much demanding self-sacrifice and heroic resolution, as repugnant to the carnal heart, and as unprofitable to the eye of sense, as uncertain in its various steps, and as much dependent on the principle of faith. (2Co_5:7)
4. Cheering and encouraging assigning to the patriarch a number of exceeding great and precious promises which should abundantly compensate for the sacrifices and deprivations that should be entailed upon him by compliance with the heavenly invitation a great inheritance, a great posterity, a great salvation, a great renown, a great influence; and in the gospel, too, are held forth to stimulate and comfort heaven"s pilgrims, a variety of rich rewards that shall more than recompense them for all that they may do or suffer in yielding to the call of Christ.
II THE FAITH OF ABRAM. As the heavenly invitation which the patriarch received was designed to be symbolic of the gospel call Which is addressed to us, so the faith of the patriarch, which responded to the voice of God, was intended for a pattern of that hearty trust with which by us the gospel message should be embraced. The faith of Abram was
1. Submissive and obedient. Summoning his household, gathering his flocks, and taking with him his aged father Terah, he departed. Without this indeed he could not have been possessed of faith. Whenever the Divine testimony contains a precept and a promise, the faith that is sincere must
2. yield obedience to the precept as well as cling to the promise. In the gospel message both are present: a promise of salvation, a full, free, and generous offer of eternal life; and along with this a precept of separation from the world, of consecration to a life of faith, holiness, and love; and the second must be obeyed, while the first is embraced to render faith complete.
3. Prompt and unhesitating. Without question or complaint, without the slightest shadow of reluctance, so far at least as the narrative reveals, the Chaldaean flock-master puts Jehovah"s order into execution; and in this respect again he is worthy of imitation. The same promptitude which he displayed should be exhibited by us in responding to the gospel call, and all the more that in our case there is less room than there was in his to doubt that the voice which calls is Divine.
1. Intelligent and reasonable. Even if Abram had departed from Chaldaea purely sua sponte, in order to escape contamination from its idolatries, instead of being open to a charge of folly because he had gone forth, "not knowing whither he went," he would have been entitled to be regarded as having performed an act of highest prudence. Much more then was his conduct wise and commendable when he was acting in obedience to Heaven"s express command going forth beneath the guidance and protection of Almighty strength and Omniscient love. And just as little can Christian faith be challenged as fanatical and rash, possessing as it does the same sanction and supervision as that of the father of the faithful.
2. Patient and persevering. Delayed at Haran, the traveler was not diverted from his path. Undaunted by prospective perils, he had left Chaldea to go to a land which God was to show him; unconquered by actual hardships and trials, he halted not till he set his foot within the promised land. And so we learn that faith to begin the Christian life is not enough; not he who commences the heavenward pilgrimage) but he who endureth to the end, shall be saved.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto…
Gen_12:4
So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him
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Abrahams obedience
I.
AT FIRST, ABRAHAMS OBEDIENCE WAS ONLY PARTIAL (Gen_11:31). It becomes us to be very careful as to whom we take with us in our pilgrimage. We may make a fair start from our Ur; but if we take Terah with us, we shall not go far. Let us all beware of that fatal spirit of compromise, which tempts us to tarry where beloved ones bid us to stay.
II. ABRAHAMS OBEDIENCE WAS RENDERED POSSIBLE BY HIS FAITH Gen_12:4-5).
III. ABRAHAMS OBEDIENCE WAS FINALLY VERY COMPLETE. (F. B.Meyer, B. A.)
An example of faith
I. THE DIVINE VOICE OF COMMAND AND PROMISE. Gods servants have to be separated from home and kindred, and all surroundings. The command to Abram was no mere arbitrary test of obedience. God could not have done what He meant with him, unless He had got him by himself. So Isaiah Isa_51:2) puts his finger on the essential when he says, I called him alone. Gods communications are made to solitary souls, and His voice to us always summons us to forsake friends and companions, and to go apart with God. No man gets speech of God in a crowd. The vagueness of the command is significant. Abram did not know whither he went. He is not told that Canaan is the land till he has reached Canaan. A true obedience is content to have orders enough for present duty. Ships are sometimes sent out with sealed instructions, to be opened when they reach latitude and longitude so-and-so. That is how we are all sent out. Oar knowledge goes no further ahead than is needful to guide our next step. If we go out as He bids us, He will show us what to do next. Observe the promise. Our space forbids our touching on its importance as a further step in the narrowing of the channel in which salvation was to flow. But we may notice that it needed a soul raised above the merely temporal to care much for such promises. They would have been but thin diet for earthly appetites.
II. THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH. We have here a wonderful example of prompt, unquestioning obedience to a bare word. We do not know how the Divine command was conveyed to Abram. The patriarch knew that he was following a Divine command, and not his own purpose; but there seems to have been no appeal to sense to authenticate the inward voice. He stands, then, on a high level, setting the example of faith as unconditional acceptance of, and obedience to, Gods bare word.
III. THE LIFE IN THE LAND. The first characteristic of it is its continual wandering. This is the feature which the Epistle to the Hebrews marks as significant. There was no reason but his own choice why Abram should continue to journey, and prefer pitching his tent now under the terebinth tree of Moreh, now by Hebron, instead of entering some of the cities of the land. He dwelt in tents because he looked for the city. The clear vision of the future end detached him, as it will always detach men, from close participation in the present. It is not because we are mortal, and death is near at the farthest, that the Christian is to sit loose to this world, but because he lives by the hope of the inheritance. He must choose to be a pilgrim, and keep himself apart in feeling and aims from this present. The great lesson from the wandering life of Abram is, Set your affection on things above. Cultivate the sense of belonging to another polity than that in the midst of which you dwell. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Abrahams faith
Abraham obeyed. The obedience of faith Heb_11:8). Consider how his faith operated.
I. IT SUPPLIED NEEDFUL ELEMENTS OF CHARACTER.
1. Courage. Men were gregarious. Dwelt together for mutual aid and protection. He became bold to go forth alone.
2. Disinterestedness. Might have grown rich on the verdant plains of Mesopotamia. Gave up all at Gods bidding.
3. Great activity. At seventy-five years of age he gave up a life of comparative ease, and at a time when men are usually thinking of rest, he went out to found a nation, in a country that he knew not of.
II. IT OVERCAME SURROUNDING ATTRACTIONS.
1. The love of country. This, strong in all men, specially so in an Oriental. The memories of the past and sepulchres of his people endeared the place.
2. The ties of kindred. Though he tool: Sarai and Lot with him, many were left behind, to be seen no more. He went out, not knowing whither he went, and to dwell among a strange people speaking an unknown tongue. When Englishmen emigrate, they know the land, the people, and the language.
III. IT ROSE SUPERIOR TO PROSPECTIVE DANGERS.
1. An unprecedented journey. Ancient migrations were usually made along the shores of rivers. Pasturage and water for the flocks required this. Abrams path lay across a desert.
2. An unknown destination. To an inhabited land where opposition might be expected.
IV. IT LEANED CONSTANTLY ON GOD. His halting places were marked by the altars he reared. He walked not by sight; or the desert, the famine, and the Canaanite, might have hindered and discouraged him; but by faith. Learn--
I. The obedience of faith is the most perfect and acceptable obedience.
II. Without faith it is impossible to please God. (J. C. Gray.)
Abrahams journey
Great journey, suggestive of much! It reminds us of the Pilgrim Fathers and their memorable expedition; but they, unlike Abraham, knew something of the country to which they were going. It reminds us of the noble travellers, Ledyard and Park; the former saying, when asked when he should be ready to set off for the interior of Africa, Tomorrow; and the latter leaving again the peaceful banks of the Tweed for the sandy deserts which had nearly overwhelmed him before; but they, too, knew where they were bound, and besides were certain of renown, if not of safety, and both expected to return. A truer parallel to this wondrous journey of Abraham is found in the case of the dying Christian, who, full of faith and hope, calmly and cheerfully takes his plunge into the darkness of the future world. But he does this, partly at least, in obedience to necessity, whereas Abraham, who might have stayed at home, went in willing submission to the command of God. (G. Gilfillan.)
The blessed life illustrated in the history of Abraham
Let us notice how Abrahams circumstances helped his faith. Get thee out of thy country. He was to go away from his possessions, away from the land which he loved and ruled as a chief, unto a land that I will show thee. He is to find his possession in God. He looses his hold upon those things about him that he may grasp the hand of God, and find what God can give him. See further, his faith was helped by the departure from his kindred. Why from his kindred? We have often thought of the hardness, almost the harshness, of the call. It is strange that we have never thought about the mercy of this command. The troubles of Abrahams life came from the kindred that did go with him: Sarai, brave and faithful as she was, yet once or twice was rather a hindrance than a help to Abraham; and as for the ungrateful and worldly Lot, Abraham had to face many perils for his sake. Remember, too, that the kindred whom he left behind were idolaters; and the bitterest foes a man can have are those of his own household, specially in the matter of religion. Abraham, fearless as he was, yet like many a man of high courage, was so peaceable that he preferred a compromise to strife. His safety was away from his kindred, alone with God. And, turning to ourselves, how little do we know what friendships and early associations may help or hinder the life of God within us. There was yet a further aid to faith: And from thy fathers house. Abraham was to leave his fathers house, that henceforth he might live in a tent, and that tent was no less than a very sacrament. It was the outward and visible sign of the inward and invisible grace. It set forth Gods command, and it expressed Abrahams obedience. By it he said: I am a pilgrim here, on a journey, seeking a country which God hath promised to give me. Thus the tent, with all its surroundings, was in itself the reminder of the promise, and the prompting of his faith. Let us look back upon the incident once more, and turn to think of its relation to our own lives. The one great purpose of the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ is to do for us what God did for Abraham. The New Testament idea of the Christians life is throughout that of a resurrection. The Cross of Christ is our three-fold death: death to sin, death to self, death to the world. The life we now live is a life begotten in us by the Holy Ghost, who raised up Jesus from the dead; a new life with new faculties, and new aims and new relations. Born of God, our relationship is to God; our affections are set on things above; our home is in God; citizens of the Heavenly City, we are eager for its honours, and jealous for its glory. The Cross of Christ is to do for me all that God commanded Abraham; and I have not rightly found its meaning until it is to me a power so to use the world that in it everywhere I find the presence of God, and by it I am made more fit for His service and more like unto Him, blessed and made a blessing. So is it that by the surrounding of our daily life our God is seeking to lead us into the blessed life. So Abraham departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him. And as he goes, leaving fathers house and kindred and country, shall we turn away and complain that the terms are so hard; that unless one be much more brave and resolute than most men it is vain to seek this good; that humanity so coarse as ours is incapable of any such sacrifice, and that our innate selfishness cannot endure the strain? Nay, verily; love loses all thought of sacrifice, and turns it all to joy. So Abraham departed--not driven, not trembling, but lured and won by the God of glory who had appeared to him with the gracious promise: I will bless thee;. . .and thou shalt be a blessing. (Mark Guy Pearse.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Gen_12:4. And Lot went with him] Kurtz understands that…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Gen_12:4. And Lot went with him] Kurtz understands that “God had not intended that Lot should join Abram on his journey. This (he says) is sufficiently manifest from his later history. But God allowed it, probably, from condescension to Abraham’s attachment to his family.” It would be more strictly proper to say that, as the narrative presents it, Lot joined the company of his own prompting, and not by Divine command, as in the case of Abram. It was, therefore, upon his own responsibility (Jacobus).—Seventy and five years old] Abram’s age at the second stage of his journey is now mentioned. Hence we can determine that he departed from Ur five years before.—
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Gen_12:5. All their substance that they had gathered] Heb. All their gain which they had gained. A term descriptive of property, whether in money, cattle, or any other kind of possessions.—And the souls they had gotten in Haran] Heb. And the souls which they did (or made). Nephesh, here used, denotes collectively the persons (servants) taken with them from Haran—as in Eze_27:13. The Sept. renders it πασαν ψυχην, every soul. The verb to do, or make, here used, is rendered by the Sept. εκτησαντο, acquired—as Deu_8:17; Gen_1:12. The Chald. renders, “All the souls he had subdued unto the law.” Some understand it, therefore, of proselytes made to the true religion from among the heathen at Haran. But the general sense which best suits the context is that of bond-servants, which Abram had acquired. These were gotten commonly by conquest, or by money. Here it seems to be the latter (Jacobus).—Gotten] Strictly, made, descriptive of the gain in slaves, male and female (Lange). Not only gotten, as secular property, but had made obedient to the law of the true God (Wordsworth).—
Gen_12:6. The place of Sichem] Some understand the expression as meaning the neighbourhood of Sichem; others, of the site where it afterwards stood—speaking by way of anticipation. Most expositors regard the words, “the place of,” as redundant—the place Sichem. It may more likely mean “town or village of Shechem.” At the time of Jacob’s arrival here, after sojourning in Mesopotamia, Shechem was a Hivite city, of which Hamor, Shechem’s father, was chief man. And it was at this time that Jacob purchased from him “the parcel of ground” (of the field) which he gave to his son Joseph, where was Jacob’s well (Joh_4:5). The name means “shoulder” or “ridge” (Jacobus.) Shechem was one of the oldest towns in Palestine.—Plain of Moreh] The rugged and mountainous nature of the country seems to forbid the idea of any “plain” existing there. The best authorities render the Heb. alion Moreh, “the oak of Moreh.” The name may have been derived from its owner or planter. Oaks, from their great size and durability, would be convenient as landmarks in those early ages. They were also a meeting-place for the performance of religious rites.—And the Canaanite was then in the land] This notice was most probably added to show that the land was not empty at that time, but that the subsequent promise implied a displacement of inhabitants then in possession. Nothing can be more natural than such a notice; and there is not the slightest reason for supposing it to be an interpolation of later date than the narrative itself (Alford). These words note the great obstacle Abram had to contend with. “The author of Genesis evinces in this clause his knowledge of the Canaanites, pre-supposes their nature and character to be known in such a way as a late writer could not do” (Jacobus).—
Gen_12:7. And the Lord appeared unto Abram] This remarkable phrase first occurs here. We know not in what manner God appeared to Abram, but in some way he felt that God spoke to him. “The possibility of God appearing to man is antecedently undeniable. The fact of his having done so proves the possibility. On the mode of His doing this it is vain for us to speculate” (Murphy).—Unto thy seed] Not unto thee. To Abram himself “He gave none inheritance in it; no, not so much as to set his foot on” (Act_7:5) (Murphy).—Will I give this land] God at first signified His purpose of merely showing to Abram a distant land in which he was to sojourn; he now speaks of giving it, but not immediately to himself, but to his seed; doubtless for a further trial of his faith (Bush).—And there builded he an altar unto the Lord] In Shechem, as Jacob did afterwards (Gen_23:20). Thus, by means of a religious act, he assumed the proprietorship of the land. The sanctuary stood here in the time of Joshua (Jos_24:1; Jos_24:25-26), and the law was proclaimed with blessings from Gerizim, and curses from Ebal (Deu_27:12; Jos_8:33-35). Here, also, Joshua gave his parting counsels to the people (Jos_24:1; Jos_24:25).—
Gen_12:8. And he removed from thence unto a mountain] Heb. mountainwards—indicating the nature of the district, and not any particular mountain. A similar expression in Gen_19:30.—Bethel] This name signifies “house of God.” At this time the place was called Luz, and did not become Bethel until so named by Jacob after his vision (Gen_28:19). “It does not appear that any town was ever built on the precise spot to which Jacob gave this name; but the appellation was afterwards transferred to the adjacent city of Luz, which thus became the historical Bethel. Modern researches have not been able clearly to identify the site of this ancient city; but there is a ruined village and monastery about eighteen miles south of Naplons or Shechem, and north of Jerusalem, which is generally supposed to indicate very nearly the spot” (Bush)—On the west] Heb. “from the sea,” or seaward. The expression rests upon the fact that the Mediterranean Sea was the western boundary of Canaan. In the same way, “the desert” is used for “the south” (Psa_75:6), where “from the south” is the rendering of the Heb. “from the desert.”—Hai] Heb. The Ai. The word means, a heap of ruins. The H represents the Heb. definite article. It was a royal city of Canaan, and was the first taken by the Israelites after the passage of the Jordan (Jos_7:3-5). The exact site is not known.—Called upon the name of the Lord] As “Jehovah.”—
Gen_12:9. And Abram journeyed, going on still towards the South] Heb. “He broke up his encampment, going and pulling up southwards.” Thus he advanced from place to place by degrees, according to the customs of nomadic life; but his general direction was southwards. The fact is noticed in Heb_11:10.—
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Gen_12:4-9
ABRAM ON HIS JOURNEY.—THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH
Faith in God implies something more than listening to His voice, and receiving as truth what He reveals. It is a living principle which must show itself in action. Abram is now on his journey in obedience to the command of God. We have here an instance of the belief of the heart, as distinguished from a mere intellectual assent. When a man believes with the heart, he acts upon that belief; he is full of energy, and to obey the will of God is his meat and drink—the means by which his true life is sustained. We have here an example of the obedience of faith.
I. It was prompt (Gen_12:4). Abram had left Ur of the Chaldees, and now he must leave Haran, the place of his father’s sepulchre. Devotion to the memory of an aged parent might tempt him to linger there, but he obeys the stronger claims of God and presses forwards to the Promised Land. He breaks the closest ties of nature, and having just light enough to walk by—but not for full knowledge—he accepts the difficulties and trials of a life of faith. Like St. Paul, he acted upon his convictions at once, gave no opportunity for counter influences to operate, and “conferred not with flesh and blood.” There was in his obedience an appearance of hurry, of impetuosity. Worldly prudence imposes caution upon men in taking any new important step. Friends and interests have to be consulted, and probabilities of success must be calculated. A wise man, in the affairs of this life, will do nothing rashly. Hence the popular maxim that “second thoughts are best.” And that maxim is true when applied to ordinary affairs, for in these to act on the first impulse is unsafe. But this advice is not good when applied to matters which concern the soul. In those things which regard the conscience, first thoughts are the truest and best. He is a wise man in the things of this world who pauses to consider before he commits himself to any important step, but he is a foolish man who, in the things of the eternal world, delays between the thought and the action. When God commands, to delay is to be disobedient. Faith makes haste to obey. The children of faith, in serving God, are set free from all other masters. The authority under which they act is supreme, and therefore they have no need for deliberation. Such was Abram—ready to hear the Divine voice, prompt to obey it.
II. It was considerate of the interests of others. After the death of his father, Abraham took his providential place as the leader of the colony. He sought to urge others to obedience to the Divine will by the force of his authority, or by the milder influence of his example. He was known to his Maker as one who would command his household after him, and win them to the ways of righteousness. True piety is never selfish. He who has received the mercy of heaven catches the spirit of the Divine benevolence, and longs for others to share the same blessings. He partakes of that blessed Spirit whose chief attribute is liberality. Abraham was not content to be a solitary servant of God—to be absorbed in attention to the salvation of his own soul. Religion contemplates no man as an isolated portion of humanity, but rather in his relation to others. The fire of devotion is not only hot within, but resplendent without, giving light to all around. The lights of the world, like the sun, are public—they are intended to bless far and wide. The call of Abraham had regard to the spiritual interests of others. Religion implies society. Where “two or three are gathered together,” God is present to bless. It is not in lonely solitude that the righteous man enjoys the blessings of salvation; he partakes thereof with others. God designed to found a Church by means of His servant Abraham, who was thus to be a source of blessing to all nations. The life of faith acquires a sublime value by the consciousness that its blessings are shared by other souls.
1. The believer’s joy is increased. Religion is not a cold assent of the understanding, but engages the affections of the heart. When the heart is full, the joy that swells it must overflow.
2. The believer’s idea of God is enhanced. He thinks of the benevolence of God as plenteous and wide.
3. The believer’s faith is greatly strengthened. It is possible to imagine a faith so real and well-founded that a man could hold it against all the world. Still, he who is quite alone in his faith labours under great disadvantages. He is liable to many discouragements, and often tempted to doubt as to whether he is right. A man’s confidence is greatly increased when he meets with another believer. Religion in man requires the aid of society.
III. It was maintained in the midst of difficulties. To all human appearance, Abraham had little else than discouragement throughout the whole of his course. However much he might have been inwardly supported, an ordinary observer could not discern that he had received any real benefit from his belief in God.
1. He was a wanderer in the land which God had promised to give him. He has no estate or dominion there assigned to him, but travels about as a wanderer from place to place. This was a continual difficulty in the way of faith in a promise that God would give him that land to dwell in.
2. He is beset by enemies. “The Canaanite was then in the land” (Gen_12:6). Others were already in possession, so that he could not pass through the country without challenge. One would have thought that, having received the Divine promise, which seemed to speak of temporal good in abundance, his way would have been made clear before him, and he would have but to rest and enjoy.
3. The Divine promise opened up for him no splendid prospect in this world. The land was to be given not to himself but to his “seed.” In the case of the patriarch himself the promise appeared to point to an earthly reward, but in reality had no such fulfilment. To Abraham himself “He gave none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on” (Act_7:5). The promise referred to things remote and beyond the limits of his own earthly life. Here was faith which could trust in God against all appearances, and when denied of a present earthly reward. The children of this world are under the tyranny of the present. They believe that one now is worth many hereafters—one good actually in possession is worth more than a doubtful and late reversion. The faith of Abraham regarded a prospect higher than this world. It was enough for him that God had spoken and He would fulfil His word in His own way.
IV. It respected the outward forms of piety. Abraham was not satisfied with private devotion—with those exercises of the soul, which, though true and real, are invisible to others. He made a public profession and exhibition of his faith. He “built an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord” (Gen_12:8). Of such an action we may say—
1. It was unworldly. When the men of this world find a fruitful plain, they build a city and a tower to enhance their own greatness, and to transmit their fame to coming generations. The children of faith make it the first duty to raise an altar to God. They regard all things as consecrated to Him whose they are, and whom they serve. The action of Abraham in building an altar amounted to the taking possession of the land for God. Thus the believer holds the gifts of Providence as the steward of them, and not as their possessor.
2. It satisfied a pious instinct which meets some of the difficulties of devotion. It is difficult for man to realise the invisible without the aid of the visible. Hence the pious in all ages have built places in which to worship God. This arises from no desire to limit God in space; but in order that men might feel that He is present everywhere, they must feel that He is specially present somewhere. God meets man by coming down to his necessity.
3. It was a public profession of his faith. Abraham was not one of those who hid the righteousness of God in his heart. He made it known to all around him by outward acts of devotion. Such conduct glorifies God, and gives religion the advantage that is derived from the corporate life of those who profess it.
4. It was an acknowledgement of the claims of God. By building an altar and calling upon the name of the Lord, Abraham confessed that all claims were on the side of God and not on that of man. He confessed that sin requires expiation, and that all true help and reward must come to man from above. The only religion possible to man is that of penitence and faith.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Gen_12:4. Obedience to the utmost of the Word of God is the necessary issue of a sound faith.—(Hughes.)
The rule of the believer’s life is what God has spoken. The Divine word directs him in the way.
No sooner did Abraham receive the Divine command than he obeyed it. When acting in the ordinary affairs of life, and from mere worldly considerations, prudence may dictate delay, and the propriety of consulting friendly advice, but when the call is evidently from above, when the direction is clearly from God, to be dilatory is to be disobedient. Faith is prompt in compliance, and makes haste to execute the will of our Heavenly Master. Though the journey to be undertaken was above three hundred miles in length, and rendered formidable by deserts, high mountains, and thick forests, yet the patriarch implicitly puts himself under the conduct of that Providence whose summons had called him forth, and following its leadings bade defiance to difficulty and danger. (Bush.)
Every true believer longs for companions in his faith.
“So Abram departed.” So starts the spirit of faith. Long is the struggle to leave “father’s house.” To go forth “not knowing whither we go,” is trial enough. To go forth from “Father’s house” at once seems impossible. Thus the old man of our fallen spiritual life, though it cannot really help us to Canaan, is still clung to. Indeed, at first it seems to help us. It is written, not Abram took Terah, but “Terah took Abraham;” for often some energy which is really corrupt is active, apparently in a good direction, when the elect is called. But Terah never passes Jordan; he can reach Chanan, no further. Having got thus far he has been long enough pilgrim, “he dwells there.” … Once with the old man leading us we went forth to go into the land of Canaan; but we only got to Chanan and dwelt there. But the old man was buried; then again we started to go into the land of Canaan, and into the land of Canaan we came.—(Jukes: Types of Genesis.)
Gen_12:5. He who shows the obedience of faith is fitted to be a leader of other souls.
Piety moves along the lines of natural affection. A man may desire most of all the salvation of his own household, without deserving the imputation of narrowness and partiality.
No great spiritual work is wrought in any soul without affecting many others.
Though the sense of “making proselytes” is not conveyed by the words in their primary meaning, yet they are expressly thus rendered in the Jerusalem Targum; and the Chaldee paraphrase has, “All the souls which he had subdued unto the law,” and the fact that Abraham is afterwards said to have had three hundred and eighteen trained (Heb. catechised) servants in his house, as well as his acknowledged character as a pious man, makes the supposition altogether probable. The true sense of the phrase, at any rate, so nearly approximates to this, that we cannot hesitate to adduce the example of Abraham as an admonition to us, that, wherever the providence of God shall place us, there we are to labour to be “makers of souls,” to gain proselytes to our Heavenly Master, to increase to the utmost the number of those who shall devote themselves to His fear and service.—(Bush).
Faith moveth souls only to the Land of Promise. Such was Canaan, Heb_11:9; good in itself, Deu_8:7-9; Eze_20:6; Jehovah’s Land, Hos_9:3; Holy Land, Zec_2:12; Land of Immanuel, Isa_8:8; a type of heaven, Heb_11:9-10.—(Hughes).
Gen_12:6. Pilgrimage is noticed first. Abram dwells in tents to the end, possessing nothing here save a burial place. And the spirit in us, which obeys God’s call, will even yet dwell in tents and be a pilgrim. The old man may rest in outward things and be settled, but the spirit of faith has here no certain dwelling-place. Its tent is often stretched by rains and winds; yet the spirit of faith lives, and by these very trials is kept from many snares. For the called one cannot be as Moab, “settled on his lees.” “Moab hath been at ease from his youth, he hath settled on his lees, he hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity; therefore his taste remaineth in him, his scent is not changed” (Jer_48:11). Abram, and David, and Israel, have all been emptied from vessel to vessel. Pilgrimage is their appointed lot, because true life is always progressing, moving. In the course of this discipline, trials befall them which others never meet with; failures, too, are seen, such as we never see in the prudent worldly man. When did Nahor go down to Egypt, or deny his wife? When did Saul, like David, go down to Achish, and play the madman? But in this same course God is seen, and man is learnt.—(Jukes: Types of Genesis.)
The children of faith are but pilgrims in this world. Others are in possession of the land: they are bound elsewhere.
The believer should follow the command of God, though, to all human appearance, no definite end be reached. A strong faith should be able to bear the utmost trial.
This first halting place of Abram and his household in the Land of Promise was the “City of Samaria, called Sychar,” where Our Lord sowed the early seeds of His Gospel doctrine in His conversation with the Samaritan woman (Joh_4:5); and it was the same place at which Philip first preached in the transition of the Christian Church from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth (Act_7:5), where it should be rendered “a city of Samaria”—the phrase being the very same in the Greek as in Joh_4:5—(Jacobus).
The enemies of God are still in the land through which we pass in our faith’s journey. The believer is more than a pilgrim on the earth, he is also a stranger.
Gen_12:7. He who created the spirit of man can have access to it in whatever way it pleases Him.
God does more than act upon men by the outward circumstances of life. He can appear to the spirit of man and impress it by His presence and His word.
“And the Lord appeared unto Abram.” A reference to various other passages where a similar event is described, leads to the belief that such manifestations were vouchsafed for the most part in dreams and visions of the night, when supernatural revelations were made in such a way as to carry the evidence of their Divinity along with them. But until we know more of the nature of spirits and of the mode of spiritual communications, we must be content to abide in comparative ignorance on this whole matter. Certain it is that that Almighty power which has raised our bodies from the dust, which has formed the eye and planted the ear, and whose inspiration hath given us understanding, can avail itself of any avenue that it pleases to reach the sentient spirits of His creatures, whether in their sleeping or waking moments, and impart the knowledge of His will. To the pious and humble mind it will be matter rather of devout admiration and praise than of curious research, that the Father of our spirits is thus pleased to manifest His presence in the secret chambers of the soul, and by unknown channels to infuse strength, peace, confidence, and refreshing joy into the hearts of His servants, who are disposed to make sacrifices and to encounter perils for His sake. The Scriptures teem with assurance to such that they, like Abraham, shall not fail of their reward, even in the present life.—(Bush.)
In the deepest trials God often manifests Himself most clearly. If the call of faith seems hard to flesh and blood, the warrant of it will be made all the stronger. The revelation of God is graduated to the needs of the soul.
When God is seen by the inner eye, then only has a man true spiritual knowledge. All other religion but that which is in this way derived is but the religion of tradition or authority; and does not rest upon that real knowledge of the truth which comes of the vision of God. The “inspiration of the Almighty” is the source of man’s understanding and true wisdom.
God reveals Himself and His purposes gradually, so rewarding one degree of faith as to beget another. The land was first shown to Abraham, and afterwards the promise was uttered that God would give it to him.
“There he builded an altar unto the Lord.”
1. The spiritual feelings of the soul express themselves in outward acts of devotion.
2. The gifts of God should be consecrated to His service. Noah thus consecrated the new world, and now Abraham the Land of Promise.
3. The believer should assure himself of a title to his inheritance. Abraham, by building an altar, took possession of the land on the ground of the right secured to him by faith. However poor and unpromising the prospect around us, we can secure our title to the heavenly Canaan.
As he went along he erected altars to commemorate the mercies of God, and to remind his posterity that this was really their own land. Here we have that strange feeling of human nature, the utter impossibility of realising the invisible except through the visible. Churches, what are they built for? To limit God and bind Him down to space? or to explain God to us, to enable us to understand Him, and to teach us that not there only, but in every place He is present? Consider then what the land of Canaan became. Gradually it was dotted over with these stones, teaching the Israelites that it was a sacred land. What these stones did for the Israelites our memory does for us; it brings back in review our past life. Remember, I pray you, what that life will be to you when it all appears again. Blessed, thrice blessed, is the man to whom life is as it was to Abram, dotted over with memorials of communion with God. But your life—that guilty thought and act, that unhallowed feeling—dare you see it come before you again? I pray you remember that this return of all the past, to memory, in the day when God shall judge your life, is no dream, but one of the things that must be hereafter.—(Robertson.)
Wherever he had a tent God had an altar, and an altar sanctified by prayer.—(Henry.)
Abraham erected an altar.
1. As a protest against the idolatry around him. He was everywhere surrounded by idolatrous neighbours, and it was due to his high calling to show allegiance to the true God. As the Canaanites were a fierce and proud people he would thereby expose himself to persecution. But he would not deny God even at the peril of his life.
2. As a pious example to his household. He was a man of some social distinction—the lord of a large household. We hear afterwards of his having “three hundred and eighteen trained servants, born in his own house.” How great must have been the influence of his example upon these! They saw continually before them a hero of the faith who was not ashamed to confess the true God, amidst the ridicule and scorn of the heathen around him.
3. As a recognition of an atoning sacrifice for sin. Ever since the Fall all worship had to take account of the fact that sin requires expiation. “Though nothing is here stated of sacrificial offering yet the building of an altar fairly implies this.”—(Jacobus.)
On the hill east of this sacred ground Abram built another altar, and called upon the name of the Lord. Here we have the reappearance of an ancient custom instituted in the family of Adam after the birth of Enoch (Gen_4:26). Abram addresses God by His proper name Jehovah, with an audible voice in his assembled household. This, then, is a continuation of the worship of Adam with additional light according to the progressive development of the moral nature of man.—(Murphy).
It is the characteristic of the members of the true Church of God that they call upon His name.
Gen_12:9. We may on various occasions change places, provided we carry the true religion with us; in this we must never change.—(Fuller).
Abraham pulled up and pitched his tent, from point to point, during the course of his journey. Such is our condition as Christians. We have here “no continuing city,” but are moving towards a permanent home. We do not dwell in tents, but our habitations in this world are sufficiently moveable to remind us that our true rest is not here. There is no fixity in our human life. Our houses change their inhabitants often, and we are passing on to other scenes.
To all points, East, and West, and South, God orders the motions of the saints, to leave some savour of His truth everywhere.—(Hughes).
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY THE
REV. WM. ADAMSON
Abram and History! Gen_12:1-20.
(1) The unchanged habits of the East, says Stanley, render it a kind of living Pompeii. The outward appearances, which, in the case of the Greeks and Romans, we knew only through art and writing—through marble, fresco, and parchment—in the case of Jewish history we know through the forms of actual men living and moving before us, wearing the same garb, speaking almost the same language as Abram and the patriarchs.
(2) From Ur of the Chaldees, remarks Landels, comes forth, in one sense, the germ of all that is good throughout succeeding generations. His appearance, like that of some great luminary in the heavens, marks an epoch in the world’s history. A stream of influence flows from him—not self-originated, but deriving its existence from those heaven-clouds of Divine dew of blessing resting upon this lofty summit of his soul.
(3) Widening as it flows, and promoting, in spite of the occasional checks and hindrances it meets with, spiritual life and health, that stream is vastly more deserving of exploration and research than the streams of the Lualaba and Niger, or the sources of the Nile and Zambesi. Such exploration and research will be productive of incalculable benefit to those who engage therein with right motives and aspirations.
“Truth springs like harvest from the well-ploughed field,
And the soul feels it has not searched in vain.”—Bonar.
Father of Faithful! Gen_12:1-9. Here we have—
1. The Call (Gen_12:1);
2. The Command (Gen_12:1);
3. The Covenant (Gen_12:2);
4. The Conditions (Gen_12:3);
5. The Compliance (Gen_12:4);
6. The Conversion (Gen_12:7); and
7. The Considerations.—The call was from God. The command was to leave his native land. The covenant was protection and preservation, etc. The condition was that of simple trust and confidence. The compliance was that Abraham journeyed first to Haran, thence to Canaan. The conversion of Abraham was evidently the erection of the “altar,” erected wherever he pitched his tent. And the considerations are
(1) That God calls and commands each of the sons of men to come out from a world lying in wickedness, and make life a pilgrimage to heaven.
(2) That God covenants and conditions with each of the sons of men obeying this call to crown their lives with loving-kindness and tender mercies.
(3) That God counts and compensates for all sacrifices and sufferings endured in complying with His call with the Crown of Life that fadeth not away.
“One of the chivalry of Christ! He tells us how to stand
With rootage like the palm, amid the maddest whirl of sand.”—Massey.
Abram’s Call! Gen_12:4.
(1) The Talmud, in face of Genesis 12, asserts that Abram left Ur on account of Nimrod’s attempt to kill him. The king’s design, however, was frustrated by Eleazar, a slave of Abram, whom Nimrod had presented to him. He told Abram of the king’s dream—of the interpretation which the wise men put upon it—and of the king’s design to kill him. So Abram hastened to the house of Noah, and remained there hiding while the servants of the king searched his own home and the surrounding country in vain, and he remained a longer time—even until the people had forgotten him. Then Abram said to Therach, his father, “Let us all journey to another land; let us go to Canaan.” And Noah and his son Shem added their entreaties to his, until Therach consented to do as they wished. And they went forth to Charran.
(2) The Scripture asserts a Divine call. It assures us that this Divine call did not include the name of the land to which he would take them. It authorises the belief that Abram obeyed God’s command in simple faith, i.e., in entire ignorance of the “where.” And it associates Charran with Abram’s emigration only so long as Terah lived. The puerilites and perversions of the Talmudic Tales bear on their faces their own condemnation as false witnesses; whereas God’s word has on it the impress of truth.
“Pure is the Book of God, with sweetness filled;
More pure than massive, unadulterate gold;
More sweet than honey from the rock distilled.”—Mant.
Obedience of Faith! Gen_12:4.
(1) Suppose a man were to build a tower without any foundation, intending to place the foundations on the roof. What would happen it is easy to surmise. The fabric would very soon give way. Many do this in spiritual things. They place “the foundations of faith” upon the superstructure of obedience. It is obedience that must rise up on the basis of faith. “Trust in God and do the right,” is a wise maxim; but some make the proverb an inverted pyramid. Place Pharaoh’s great pyramid on its apex, and we can easily conceive the result. Abram first believed, then obeyed God.
(2) “Hasten onward with your troop to yonder ravine; hold your ground there until I arrive with the main body of the army.” Such were the orders of the great general to one of his brigadier officers, and he was obeyed. But whence sprang the subaltern’s obedience? He trusted his general’s “Until I arrive with the main body of the army.” Faith was not the blossom, it was the root, and obedience the flower. Abram’s obedience—so prompt and perfect—had its root in Divine trust. Believing God, he obeyed, and went forth, not knowing whither.
“Yes! strong in faith I tread the uneven ways,
And bare my head unshrinking to the blast;
And if the way seems rough, I only clasp
The hand that leads me with a firmer grasp.”—Lynch.
Moral Emigration! Gen_12:5.
(1) When Abram announced his determination to go forth, his keen-sighted friends doubtless inquired to what land he was directed. But the intending emigrant knew not. They would suggest that all might be a delusion; or that it might be far off, and the way perilous; or that, even should it be reached, he might find it a bleak and inhospitable desert. But Abram trusted God on all points.
(2) When Bunyan allegorized the sinner’s call from the City of Destruction, he fully realised its analogy to that of Abram. To the dwellers in the “City of Destruction” the “Promised Land” was more or less a doubtful realm—if not doubtful in its existence, certainly so in its locality and characteristics. But the moral pilgrim would not be deterred from the Divine emprise. He trusted God on all points.
(3) When a young man receives the Divine call to forsake a world lying in wickedness, and become a stranger and sojourner in the earthly land of “promise and grace,” what efforts are put forth by friends to dissuade him from such an emigration. Many, alas! have failed in the fiery ordeal. They have not been able to resist the plausible insinuations, the subtle surmises of professed friends. They have not trusted God on all points.
“Faith feels the Spirit’s kindling breath
In love and hope, that conquer death;
Faith brings us to delight in God,
And blesses e’en His smiting rod.”
Canaan Route! Gen_12:5. Westward they went. Two days’ travel would bring them to the border of the Euphrates, which would be about ten or twelve feet deep. On rafts of skin, Abraham’s goods and chattels would be carried to the western bank; or he may have used boats—circular boats, “round like a shield,” as an old historian describes them—built of willow boughs, covered with skins and smeared with bitumen. Once on the west side, a seven days’ journey would bring him to Aleppo. The Arabs have a tradition that Aleppo derives it name from “haleb,” because Abraham’s servants here milked the kine to give to the poor inhabitants. Thence Abraham would proceed to Damascus, and southward to Canaan by way of the beautiful upland district of Gilead and Bashan. On his way, from crag and peak, the pilgrim would catch many a glance of the “Home of his pilgrimage.”
“From every mountain’s rugged peak
The promised land I view;
And from its fields of fragrant bloom
Come breezes laden with perfume,
To fan my weary brow.”
Moreh! Gen_12:6. Abraham crossed, no doubt, at the ford of Bethabara. Here would rise before him a stretch of mountain country, several thousand feet high. The only way to enter upon it would be by the ravines of the watercourses, known as the wadys. These are steep and winding, and often narrow. Most of them are dry, except in the rainy season. But sometimes they widen out into little valleys and strips of meadow, with a spring gushing up. One of these wadys opens with a beautiful rich plain, and as it leads to the place of Sichem probably this was Abraham’s selected route. One translation says that Abram came to the “plain,” but the Hebrew word is “oak” of Moreh, a little plain between the rocky ridges known as Ebal and Gerisim. No more beautiful and fertile region could the patriarch have selected for his pilgrim tent and altar.
“The fresh young leaves on the hoar oak trees
Quivered and fluttered in glee;
And the merry rills from the mighty hills
Shouted his lullaby.”—Schönberg.
Divine Repetitions! Gen_12:7.
(1) In many aspects there is a remarkable parallel between this portion of Genesis and the Gospel narratives of the New Testament. Here we have the Son of God calling Abraham, first in Ur, then in Haran. In the life of David we have this reiteration, so to speak, of Divine will, a reiteration apparent in the prophetic calls. In the New Testament we have the Son of Man calling the disciples twice over at the beginning of His ministry, and again twice over after His resurrection. Even in the Acts of the Apostles Paul seems to have had a similar double call. The same Divine repetitions reappear in the Apocalyptic annals of the Patmos seer.
(2) The spiritual lesson is that God’s Holy Spirit often repeats His call—the second being in more emphatic and explicit terms. It has been suggested that Abraham was remiss in complying with the call in Ur, hence its repetition in Haran. But this is mere conjecture. The analogy of faith is progressive—a fuller development of the Divine ideal and intention. The captain gives his soldiers a general apprehension of his design and their duty, and on the march he more fully unfolds his design and unveils their duty.
“So, darkness in the pathway of man’s life
Is but the shadow of God’s providence,
By the great sun of wisdom cast thereon,
And what is dark below is light in heaven.”—Whittier.
Promised Possession! Gen_12:7.
(1) Old Canaan was a very nice country. Yet in itself it was scarcely worth while promising in possession. It was nothing to the dominion of Nebuchadnezzar, of Cyrus, of Alexander, of the Cæsars, or of the sovereigns of England. “Is it not, therefore,” asks Gibson, “perfectly obvious that the ‘promised possession’ was not the gift of so many acres, but of a land separated from the nations, from heathenism, from the wickedness of a corrupt world. And that for the ‘world’s sake.’ ”
(2) It was the Lord’s startling statement to the proud children of Abram after the flesh, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day.” Messiah’s day had begun in Abraham’s day; the patriarch saw it, and was glad. The day of salvation was scanned by Abram on hope’s lofty summit by faith’s eye, as Moses surveyed the promised land from Nebo’s towering height. “This land” expanded and widened out into the “renewed world.” He beheld the fertile and fruitful fields of the Messianic land of grace.
“He heard the promise as one hears
The voice of waters through a wood;
And Faith foreran th’ appointed years,
And grasp’d the substance of the good.”
Heart-Hunger! Gen_12:8.
(1) The amœlia, a small jellyfish or speck, driven by its instinctive craving, searches for that in the environment which is fitted to its use. It then makes its whole self into a stomach to wrap about the food which it has secured. Under excitement from this instinctive craving, the locusts go forth in bands, and, braver than the Amazonian warriors of Ashantee, scale walls and smother with their dead bodies the fires which are lit to oppose their progress. In the world of struggling races, this instinctive unrest acts like a mighty hammer to spread out the nations, and fuse them under its blows. This craving, pure and simple, is constitutional, and, therefore, Divine in its origin. In the case of man, the introduction of sin, while it has distorted that craving, has intensified the hunger.
(2) The traditions, therefore, about Abram have doubtless a solid substratum of truth. Abram craved after God. His heart hungered after a knowledge of God. Augustine of Milan tells of a “deep-seated craving” which he long tried to satisfy. Such was the heart-hunger of Abram when God revealed Himself as the true and satisfying food. “Whom have I in heaven but Thee, and there is none upon the earth that I desire in comparison of Thee.” When Abram fed upon this knowledge of God he was satisfied. We do not say that “heart-hunger” ceased. Far otherwise. Each feast of the heart upon Divine knowledge whetted the appetite for more, while it furnished strength and ministered satisfaction.
“Still, still without ceasing.
I feel it increasing,
This hunger of holy desire.”—Guyon.
Travelling South! Gen_12:9.
(1) There are in this country about forty-five species, says Neil, of the orchis. All these plants are pilgrim-travellers. The early purple, Orchis Mascula, every year throws out a new bulb or tubercule, always on the side towards the south. By this means it always changes its position, and little by little advances to the southward. It thus steadily travels on to the bright home of this family of flowers in the tropics—the cloudless land of sun.
(2) And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south. The soul, which has heaven for its home patiently grows heavenward—growing up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. Southward from the cold, bleak wastes of worldly conformity—southward to the warm haunt of everlasting flowers—the land of unclouded sunshine.
“So live that you each year may be,
While time glides softly by,
A little farther from the earth,
And nearer to the sky.”
Pilgrim Purpose! Gen_12:9.
(1) Dwellers in houses are exposed to dangers such as the dwellers in tents do not fear. Passive waters become stagnant, while the ruffled waves abide incorrupt. Abram’s tent was often searched by winds and rains; yet he was safe from the stagnancy of city life. The gipsy knows little or nothing of the fevers associated with settled dwellings of brick and stone. Moab’s ease leads to Moab’s being settled on his lees; whereas, Israel by captivity learns what is in his heart towards God, and what is in God’s heart towards him.
(2) Abram’s tent-life was a Divine purpose. It was linked with the encountering of storms and tempests. But the lofty pine of Norway becomes statelier, and strikes its roots more firmly amid the crevices of the mountains, the more the breezes battle amid its spreading boughs. “If my life has been one of trouble, it has also been one of much spiritual blessing. I gained more strength and acquired more knowledge from my varying experience of calm and storm, than otherwise I should. It is through the Divine mercy.”
“Great truths are greatly won, not found by chance,
Nor wafted on the breath of summer dream:
But grasped in the great struggle of the soul,
Hard buffeting with adverse wind and stream.”—Bonar.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain Abraham’s Journey to Canaan
Abraham’s Journey to Canaan
v. 4. So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. Abram put his faith in the promise of the Lord and was obedient to His command, forsaking his fatherland, his acquaintances, and even his nearest relatives, to journey with his wife and his nephew to the new country of which the Lord had spoken.
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v. 5. And Abram took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. Accustomed as they were to a nomadic life, they traveled by easy stages, until they came to Canaan, the entire journey being under God’s direction, and therefore successful, Heb 11:8. All their wealth in cattle and servants, which they had acquired in Mesopotamia, they brought along with them.
v. 6. And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. So the caravan of which Abram was the head evidently entered the land of Canaan from the north, through what was afterward Galilee, passing down through the country in which his descendants were later to live, until he reached Sichem, or Shechem, approximately in the center of the land. Here he pitched his tent in a grove, under a terebinth, a tree similar to an oak, which belonged to one Moreh. Cf Deu 11:30. And the Canaanite was then in the land. So Abram could not take possession of the land at once, but was only suffered to sojourn there as a stranger, Heb 11:9.
v. 7. And the Lord appeared unto Abram and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land. And there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him. Although a member of a race that had forsaken the true God, the call of the Lord had turned the heart of Abram to Him in simple faith. When, therefore, the Lord appeared to him in a vision in Sichem and assured him that the entire land would some time belong to his descendants, Abram believed the Lord and worshiped Him by the erection of an altar.
v. 8. And he removed from thence, broke up his encampment, and went unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west and Hai on the east; and there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord. The geographical notation in many cases is that of the later age, in which the author lived, for the sake of a quicker understanding. Abram’s new encampment was in the hill country of what was afterwards Ephraim, between Ai on the west and Lus, or Bethel, on the east. Here again he inaugurated the worship of the true God by preaching and prayer, for he felt responsible for his whole household and therefore taught also his slaves and house-servants the way of salvation.
v. 9. And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south. Once more he struck his tent and removed with all his possessions to the southernmost district of Canaan, where it borders upon the Arabian desert.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 This includes animals and non-living property.
possessions
This includes animals and non-living property.
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the people that they had acquired
Possible meanings are 1) "slaves that they had accumulated" or 2) "the people whom they had gathered to be with them."
translationWords
Abraham
Yahweh
Lot
Haran
Sarah
Canaan
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 12:4-9 Abram’s obedience to God’s call corresponded to God’s…
12:4-9 Abram’s obedience to God’s call corresponded to God’s commands (see study note on 12:1-3). He journeyed to Canaan (12:4-6) and became a blessing (12:5-9).
12:4 Abram was middle-aged, settled, prosperous, aristocratic, and polytheistic (see study note on 11:27-32). When the Lord spoke to him (12:1-3), he obediently left his old ways in Ur to follow God’s plan. Since Abram responded in faith, God’s promises (12:2-3) could be confirmed in a binding covenant (15:8-21).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.